STAR-GAZER

This article deals with David Thompson who is the subject for one of the
interpretive panels I developed for the Castlegar Millennium Walkway. It
focuses on the five year period when Thompson was mandated by the partners
of the North West Company to establish a fur trading enterprise west of the
Rocky Mountains. His work formed the foundation for a successful industry
which passed into the hands of the Hudson's Bay Company, for whom he had
once worked. In addition to his primary responsibility of trading with the
natives, Thompson explored the vast Columbia watershed and produced
amazingly accurate maps. In his later life, he tried to have them published
without success, although other cartographers used his information without
giving him any credit. For all his dedication to exploration and discovery,
there is hardly a feature to be found along the waterways he followed which
bears his name.

June 22, 1807. On the first day of summer, Thompson is finally standing in
the snow-bound pass which he will later name after Joseph Howse. He is
looking at the steeply descending valley of the stream (Blaeberry River)
which he must follow through the unknown mountains to get to the valley
where the elusive Columbia River may provide an easy route to the Pacific.
Eight days later, the company which includes eight men, several horses, as
well as Thompson's wife Charlotte and children reaches a river which flows
in a northerly direction. As the Columbia should be flowing south, he calls
it the Kootanae and decides to follow it upstream. After many days of
grueling work punctuated by near starvation, they reach a lake (Lake
Windermere) where they decide to construct a post. After starting work,
Thompson is convinced by Kootenay Indians that its location is poor and they
find a more suitable site near the mouth of Toby Creek. Here he builds
Kootanae House, where they spend their first winter in never-ending
apprehension about the Piegan Indians who are enemies of the Kootenay
Indians and do not wish to see them armed by the newcomers. Before the onset
of winter, Thompson is guided by the Kootenay chief to another river which
Thompson knows as McGillivray's River (today's Kootenay) at whose lower
reaches the main Kootenay encampment is located.

In the spring of the following year the first load of furs is sent east by
retracing their route across the mountains, and new supplies are brought in.
In May, the company once again sets south to follow McGillivray's River to
the Kootenay encampment, and if possible, to the large lake into which he
has been told it drains. He also knows that from this lake, the river flows
westward, and after a final turbulent stretch, meets a larger river that
must be the Columbia. They reach the Kootenay camp and proceed further,
reaching the lower end of Kootenay Lake on May 14th . Disaster quickly
follows. Flood waters inundate the countryside and threaten his return route
upstream. Even worse, the meeting with the new tribes (Salish) which he had
arranged is no longer possible as the flooding impedes their travel. Thus,
he laments, "All my fine hopes are ruined." Their return to Kootanae House
is fraught with danger as in order to avoid fighting their way up the
ravaging McGillivray's River, they follow the rugged native overland trail
which follows the Moyie River. They return on June 6th and immediately
commence to haul the next fur shipment out. After returning on November 10th
1808, the group prepares to spend the second winter at the lonely outpost.

By now, Thompson has decided that he has located his headquarters in the
wrong place. The countryside is too dry to support a large beaver population
and in late summer and fall the absence of game leads the inhabitants to
near starvation. Even worse is the remote location, exposed to the frequent
visits of the unfriendly Piegans. He decides to build new outposts to the
south in the "Lake Country" which he has only tentatively explored. It
promises to be far better for trade and the presence of friendly natives
will offer protection.

At the back of his mind is always the great waterway to the sea - the
Columbia. As far as he knows, he has not seen the river yet, but he knows
it is somewhere to the west, running in a generally south-westward
direction. He knows McGillivray's River runs into it. But where is the
Columbia's source? And where does his Kootanae River end as it pursues its
northerly course? Perhaps next year he will find the answers.

After returning from the routine trip across the mountains in August of the
following year, Thompson decides to carry out his plan to set up new
outposts in the more promising country to the south. He follows the native
overland trail from the Kootenay encampment near present-day Bonners Ferry
to the Pend d'Oreille River, which he names the Saleesh. On the shore of
Pend d'Oreille Lake they construct the first new post which he names
Kullyspel House. In November he builds a second outpost on the upper reaches
of Saleesh River (today's Clark Fork) which he aptly names Saleesh House. A
third post called Spokane House is to be built by Jaco Finlay for the
Company next summer.

In early spring of the following year (1810) Thompson decides to explore
the lower reaches of the Pend d'Oreille River. He is told by his guides that
the last stretches of the river are not navigable; however they follow the
river to the vicinity of Metaline Falls. Abandoning their boats, the party
clambers up one of the adjacent mountain peaks. Here Thompson gazes over the
vast sea of mountains and realizes for the first time that he is standing
between two vast valleys which must run together far to the north. The
central island of mountains which he calls Nelson's Mountains is
circumscribed by the valleys. "I now perceived the Columbia River was in a
deep valley at the north end of these rude hills, and its west side the high
rolling lands of Mount Nelson, round which it runs." Now he suspects he has
been on the Columbia all along: the Kootanae River is only its northward
running branch, and his Kootanae House is very close to the actual source of
the great and mysterious river. Fate was going to propel him to the site
where the two vast valleys converge, and within a year and a half he would
follow and map every foot of the Great River.

Thompson was intending to spend the balance of the year back in civilization
and was returning with his wife and children along with the routine fur
shipment. At Rainy River, he was given instructions to turn back and follow
the Columbia to the Pacific. He attempted to cross the Rockies - as so many
times before - over Howse Pass. This time, however, the Piegans were waiting
for him and he was forced to retreat from this familiar ground. He decided
to seek out another native pass far to the north, at the headwaters of the
Athabasca River. Delays associated with these changes put him in the high
mountains far too late in the season. Thompson, however, was undaunted and
pushed on into the heavy snows with a crew that was quickly losing
enthusiasm for the venture. On January 10th 1811 he found himself in the
"dreadful desolation" of Athabasca Pass. "Many reflections came on my mind;
a new world was in a manner before me, and my object was to be at the
Pacific Ocean before the month of August. How were we to find provisions,
and how many men would remain with me, for they were dispirited? Amidst
various thoughts I fell asleep on my bed of snow."

On the steep descent along his Flat Heart River (Wood River), Thompson is
awestruck by the huge trees : "on the east side we were men among the trees
; here we were pygmies." In a few days they reach what he still calls the
Kootanae River at the strategic spot he imagined from his mountaintop near
Metaline Falls - where the two valleys meet. His plan to follow the river
downstream falls apart when five of his men desert him. With only two men
left, there is no choice remaining. They clear a 10 foot square off snow and
with split cedar build a small shelter where they spend the rest of the
winter. Then they construct a small canoe from split cedar which is stitched
together with spruce roots.

In the spring they leave Boat Encampment, choosing to go the familiar route
upstream, past the deserted Kootanae House and down McGillivray's River to
the Indian encampment. Here they take the overland trail and organize a new
expeditionary force from the men at the posts and native guides. At Kettle
Falls new canoes are built and on July 3rd Thompson sets off downstream to
the sea. He arrives at his destination on July 15th, finding John Jacob
Astor's trading post well established near the mouth of the river. After a
short stay, the Thompson party returns upstream, reaching Fort Spokane via
Snake River and an overland route.

There is not much time to waste. The season is advancing and Thompson wants
to test the new route for shipping out furs and bringing in supplies. In
late August they leave Kettle Falls, and by noon of September 5th, they
reach the mouth of McGillivray's River which Thompson follows a short
distance upstream. He spends the night, probably near the junction of the
rivers. The following day, the men work their way up the Tin-Cup Rapids and
soon find themselves in the easy water of Lower Arrow Lake. That evening
Thompson is surprised to see a bright comet in the sky.
When he reaches the little hut at Boat Encampment again on Sept. 18th , he
has to wait several days for supplies to arrive across the mountains. He
ventures up the Canoe River to check its course. This final exploration
convinces him that his hunch was right : from its source close to
McGillivray's River (near Canal Flats), the Columbia runs north until it
makes a big bend southward where the Canoe River enters it. He has now seen
all of it and he is convinced that he has found a practical route across the
continent.

With new supplies, he turns back and reaches Kettle Falls on October 30th.
Finding the camp deserted, he walks the 70 miles to Spokane House in three
days. Finally, with winter setting in, he travels to Saleesh House which he
finds vandalized by the Piegans. The men repair the outpost and there spend
the winter. His final explorations take him eastward along the Clark Fork
River toward the continental divide. In the spring of 1812, he follows the
Columbia upstream for the last time.

* * * * * * * * *

The failure of Thompson to claim the mouth of the Columbia for the British
did not in the end prevent the North West Company from becoming entrenched
in the area. In 1812, war broke out between Britain and America and Astor's
lonely outpost was doomed. In the following year the Astor enterprise was
sold to the Northwesters and many of the employees stayed on to work for the
new company. Astoria was renamed Fort George which became the operational
headquarters for the Columbia Division until Fort Vancouver replaced it
after the company amalgamated with the Hudson's Bay Company in 1821.
Thompson's route over Athabasca Pass turned out to be impractical for fur
transport. It appears that his return journey in 1812 was the last regular
shipment of furs over the pass. In 1814, furs collected the previous year
as well as the inventory purchased from the Astor group were sent by ship
from Fort George to China. From then on, furs from the Columbia Department
were exported via the outlet on the Pacific, and supplies were brought in
the same way. There may have been an occasional shipment over the difficult
pass when problems developed with the supply ships. The Columbia River
remained as the communication lifeline as company records and mail were
carried across the continent twice a year by the Express brigades. A
standard feature of the autumn Express was a shipment of select river otter
furs westward for eventual delivery to Sitka as a partial payment for a
leasing agreement with The Russia Fur Company. Accompanying these regular
spring and autumn brigades were often paying passengers, some of whom became
famous : David Douglas, Paul Kane, Father de Smet, and others.

* * * * * * * * *

The remainder of Thompson's life revolved around his ever-growing family and
- of course - synthesizing the vast amount of information into very accurate
maps. The maps earned him little financial gain and little fame. Late in
life, he turned to writing his Journals which were never published during
his lifetime. The funds he had acquired as an active partner of the North
West Company eventually ran out and Thompson was compelled to sell map
originals and his instruments to get by. His eyesight started failing him,
from too many night-time calculations by dim candlelight, he claimed. He was
distraught at seeing all his work come to naught : the best and most
productive lands which he had laid a claim to were given away to the
Americans; his maps were used by others for profit and fame; and he was
looked on as an eccentric or a curiosity. He thought all his work would be
lost and forgotten. And it very nearly was.

David Thompson died in 1857; his faithful wife and traveling companion
followed him three months later. Both were buried in an inconspicuous grave
at Mount Royal Cemetery in Montreal. After the turn of the century, his
amazingly accurate maps caught the eye of J.B.Tyrell who was soon enveloped
by the Thompson mystique and with great dedication spent a good deal of the
rest of his life making amends for the neglect of others. He traced his
manuscripts and journals and arranged Thompson's Travels for publication. As
a final gesture, he erected a modest monument on his grave.

* * * * * * * * *

During his lifetime David Thompson is reputed to have traveled in excess of
80,000 miles, often through lands previously explored only by the natives.
He was a keen recorder of native ways and a meticulous surveyor and map
maker. His journals reveal very little of his personality and his wife and
children who at times accompanied him remain in the background. He mentions
his children only in rare instances when some accident was threatening their
fragile lives. In spite of his modesty and his doubts about the perseverance
of his work, he left an indelible impression on Canada. And with the
adoption of the Columbia River as a part of the transcontinental highway he
in a way found that elusive North-West Passage between the oceans which,
although it did not follow the ice-choked Arctic Ocean, allowed commerce to
flow across the continent. Even though freight shipment along this
difficult route was abandoned in a few years, mail service was maintained
twice a year by the express brigades for the next four decades.

* * * * * * * * *

Detail of the local area, from "Map of North
America from 100o West to the Pacific Ocean" (1816)
Used by premission of the Public Records Office, London, England. (PRO. #
FO 925/4622)

The David Thompson interpretive panel contains the following text.

STAR - GAZER
For five years David Thompson had been traveling along the Columbia
watershed and setting up posts for the North West Company. His meticulous
observations enabled him to produce accurate maps of the vast territory he
had explored and his frequent use of the sextant won him the name of
Koo-Koo-Sint (star - gazer). In 1811 he made the unsuccessful push to
extend the Company territory along the Lower Columbia, only to find Astor's
outpost already established at the river's mouth. In returning upriver, he
for the first time followed the stretch of water from Kettle Falls to Boat
Encampment, thus completing his exploration of the river's complex and
tortuous course around the mountain barriers. He returned downstream again
with fresh provisions to spend the winter at Saleesh House and in the
following spring passed our community for the third time, on his way back to
civilization, never to return to the Columbia. In doing so, he pioneered a
route across the continent which was to be used for nearly half a century.

It is remarkable that Thompson was able to document such a wealth of new
discoveries when his main objective was to establish a viable trading
enterprise west of the Rocky Mountains. Although he could not interest
commercial publishers in his maps, his data was used by other cartographers
without credit. The loss - to the Americans - of the territory where he had
so successfully established the foundation for the Columbia Department, was
a heavy blow. He died in poverty in 1857, reduced to selling his maps and
instruments to support his family.

By mid-day of September 5th 1811 Thompson reached the mouth of McGillivray's
(Kootenay) River, which he tentatively explored. He was met by a group of
natives with gifts of fresh salmon and berries, and the party spent the
night in this vicinity. Early the following morning, the party sets off and
Thompson comments on local features: Tin Cup Rapids, Pass Creek, Sentinel
Mountain, and the terrace occupied by Robson today.

"Sept. 6th [1811] Friday. A misty morning. At 5:40 am set off, course as
yesterday, end of course a strong rapid. . . . Course N55W 1/3 [mile]; end
of this course a cut and a brook that is said leads by a short road to
McGillivray's Lake. . . . Since McGillivray's River, [the right bank] is
mostly bare rock like a wall of a hard dark grey & black, & much in knowls
[knolls] and gullies. . . . on the [left], hills of small woods sloping
down to the water, say 800 ft.; on the [right] , a narrow stripe of level
land at the foot of the hills, well wooded . . . . the grounds on the
[right] being fine for animals & several tracks of the black tailed
chevreuil & rein deer in the sand, sent Charles & Hamelin a hunting - but
they had no other success than firing at a large black bear. Coxe very ill
& most of us a little so."

On the evening of the 7th, while camped on Lower Arrow Lake, Thompson
finally understands the meaning of the unusual misty light he had seen in
the night sky for a few days. It is a comet, luminous as the brightest
stars.

Source Material:

The Columbia Journals, by David Thompson, edited by Barbara Belyea,
1993.

Narrative, by David Thompson, Champlain Society reprint of 1916
publication.

Travels in Western North America 1784 - 1812, by David Thompson,
edited by Victor Hopwood, 1971.

Koo-koo-sint : David Thompson in Western Canada, by Marion Smith,
1976

Public Records Office, London, England

I wish to express special gratitude to Barbara Belyea for her
generous help. She sent me photographs of her original reproduction copy of
Thompson's map, which were applied to this document after permission was
obtained from the Public Records Office. We exchanged many communications
as we attempted to retrace more precisely Thompson's journeys by
scrutinizing his rather cryptic observations.